Courtney Martin on The O’Reilly Factor

I am appalled and genuinely upset by the way O’Reilly refused to listen, interrupted, and insulted any viewpoint that was not his own or that rightfully tried to educate his sexist ageist speech. However, I am more awed by Martin’s patience, intelligence, and bad-ass passion than appalled by O’Reilly’s fallacies.

The Women’s Media Center cannot come down on Saturday Night Live for mocking Sarah Palin! As Courtney Martin pointed out, SNL mocks both sides. It’s what they do.

That being said, even if SNL mocked only Leftist women, O’Reilly is still wrong about the reasons behind the mocking of Palin. She was not mocked by SNL (or any other show) for her mannerisms. Her mannerisms were part of Tina Fey’s impersonation just like Bill Clinton’s are part of Darryl Hammond’s impersonation of our former President, but the humor in BOTH those impersonations does not lie in the mannerisms, but in the content of their characters. For Bill, the humor was in portraying him as a promiscuous fratboy. For Palin, the humor was in portraying her as an ignorant person who tried to avoid important questions posed to her. Neither of these impersonations were attacking gender or appearance, but real quirks of their respective characters.

What I find hypocritical is that O’Reilly portrays himself as a demagogue of Republican ideals as he defends Sarah Palin. Meanwhile, many republicans (at the RNC, men wore pins that described Palin as a hot mom) focused solely on Palin’s appearance, as did the McCain campaign, which paid gross amounts of money for her wardrobe and makeup artist. Then, Tina Fey does an impersonation (on a show where the main purpose is to impersonate, unlike The O’Reilly Factor) that shows explicitly and negatively the objectification Republicans have been implying all along and passing off as something positive. I have yet to find O’Reilly say something on that upsetting video that is grounded in truth.

One of the most infuriating parts of this clip is O’Reilly’s reaction to Courtney Martin. He is condescending and, in my opinion, extremely sexist in his reaction to her. The patriarchal “you’re a very courageous woman” comment would never have been made to a man. And then he goes on to tell her “the truth” about her organization, as if she is too stupid to figure it out. AH!!